A False Engagement -NARUSAKU-
by MinoriSakura
Summary: The war has ended and Sasuke leaves Sakura with a hanging statement; marriage. Two years pass without any word from him. Sakura picks up some nasty habits while Naruto engrosses himself in his studies to avoid the situation. The two dysfunctional members of team 7 have a chance encounter that could patch up the damage they've caused over the years and maybe spark something more.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything affiliated with Naruto.**

Author's Notes:

This is my first time writing fan fiction. I plan on making this an ongoing story. Please try to ignore my run on sentences and other grammatical errors. (I hope to improve these things) I would love constructive criticism and any ideas/questions/comments. This takes place after the Fourth Shinobi War. Also I apologize in advance for my lack of knowledge regarding Naruto Shippuden and my horrid paragraph structure. ^ ^" I'm not a huge fan of the beginning of this and I believe that my creativity has improve through writing this. Please give it a shot and try to make it through the end!

A little background information on this chapter:

It is after the war as I said in the author's notes.

Sasuke is not present though he will be in future chapters.

Naruto is not yet Hokage.

Sakura works full-time at the hospital in Konoha.

This ongoing project will mainly focus on Naruto and Sakura's relationship.

* * *

"Please don't go, you've only been in back in Konaha for a short time, and- and your prosthetic arm isn't going to ready until next week!"

"...Sakura" he spat as he turned his head to glare at her.

The pink kunoichi winced at her first love's harsh tone,"Don't be like this...not again, you're not leaving us again!"

She struggled to find the right words to say, having said them so many times before she wasn't overly confident she could reach him this time. Things should get better now, at least that's what she had thought in account of the fourth shinobi war finally coming to a close. For the couple of days that followed the pink hair medic had been up to her neck with work at the hospital. She didn't have any time to stop in and see her comrades despite working in the same hospital they were recovering at. Just three days later she was finishing her paperwork for the night when she decided it would be a good time to stop in and see Naruto and Sasuke. As she approached she hesitated, _Maybe I should come visit in the morning if I have time_ she wasn't sure if either of them would even be awake at this hour. She reached the door and peeked an eye though, as she did a cold gust of air blew past her. She then realized that the window had been forced open and one bed lay a mess before her. Frantically she hopped out of the window and headed for the only path out of the village, this is when she found Sasuke.

"...I'm not ready to come back to this place yet" As he said this he started slowly walking down the path away from the village.

"Sasuke... please don't do this again I don't think I can handle it. After all this time we're still not good enough for you? I'm not good enough for you?"Sakura felt a mix of desperation, sadness, and most importantly- rage.

After all that she and Naruto had gone through. After all physically and mental abuse that they had endured.

"At the very least stay for Naruto! He fought day after day trying to bring you back to us and for gods sake you both lost an arm out of all of this when the hell will it stop!?"

She was screaming at this point and violently shaking.

"I'm...not... I need some time to recover before I can face the reality of what I've done to Naruto, and especially what I've done to you, Sakura.

Give me some time, I promise I'll return to you both." He still had that signature emotionless look on his face, like he didn't give a damn.

She couldn't believe what she was actually hearing, although they were few words she forced herself to believe he meant the,. It was so strange how different they both were now, standing in the same place together. This was the first time she could actually get a good look at his face since the war. The moon was reflecting on his pale body, and he was still covered in bruises. She could tell from where she was he still had a couple broken ribs too. His eyes were not as dark as she remembered, they looked worn and dull. His hair had grown over his face and was matted from laying in a hospital bed for so long. He had grown taller and more refined. Examining his physique all of the anger and frustration she had been building started melting away. All the things she had in her head to tell him vanished and she could only think of one thing to ask.

"Can I- can I have a kiss before you go?" She was blushing, she knew her request seemed childish.

Sasuke's mouth twitched slightly, "A kiss huh?" he thought for a moment then pointed his pointed his index and pointer finger directly at her forehead and held it here a moment before he spoke, "Save that for when were married" he said as he poked her forehead with a sideways glace. He was far too embarrassed by his own words to look her in the eye.

The next morning Sakura made it a point to tell her knuckled headed best friend what had happened that night and soon the whole village knew of their engagement, not knowing Sasuke would actually be gone for more than two years. Naruto couldn't help but celebrate with his pink haired companion, despite the fact that he had not been able to tell her his true feelings on the matter. The two attempted to keep in touch, but every time they met all Sakura would do is talk about her engagement to Sasuke. After roughly 5 or 6 months Naruto started making excuses not to meet her and eventually engrossed himself in his studies so much that he really didn't have the time to see anyone. Although he was glum at first it drove him to work harder and harder everyday to fulfill what he thought was really important- his childhood dream to become the Seventh Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Two years pass and Sakura's hair had reached the center of her back. It wasn't elegantly groomed like when she was a child, it was spread all over in a mess. Her fringe had grown significantly and she rarely took the time to style it. When she was working her shifts at the hospital she had it slicked back completely away from her face, exposing her rather prominent forehead. At work she was able to manage a glow about her that often comforted her patients. Working at the hospital was the only thing Sakura really felt was consistent in her life, and the only thing that helped keep some of her composure. Outside of the hospital she would get sideways glances and hear whispers from other villagers, despite two years passing, these people never knew when to mind their own business. At first her engagement to Sasuke had felt like a huge triumph in her life, but now it felt like a ton of bricks.

 _How funny_ she thought _Guess everyone still thinks I'm the helpless little girl crying wolf over a man who never shows his face_. When she felt a gaze burn into the back of her neck she quickly turned around and shot daggers into them, it happened to be the tailor's wife leaving the weapons shop. She was known to talk to her friends about Sakura's life choices, just as everyone else in town had thought they had a right to do. The woman was so bewildered that she froze in her place. Sakura could have questioned the her as to why she was leaving the weapons shop so late at night but she simply raised a heavy eyebrow at the woman and swiftly turned back to her path and continued walking. Her shift from the hospital had been especially draining and she didn't have the energy to meddle in other's affairs. When she got to her apartment she dropped herself onto her bed without bothering to remove her shoes, or change into her pajamas. A heavy lidded and yawning she reached by her bedside for her bottle. Picking it up she noticed by its weight that it was empty. In a panic she fled to the kitchen and checked all her cabinets. Nothing. "For kami's sake" she breathed, " I really thought I had enough to last me for the night!" with that she threw on her dark blue cloak and headed for the store.

Naruto had an extremely rough day and decided to pick up some instant ramen from the store before heading home for the night. It was funny that late at night seemed to be the only time he wasn't in Kakashi's office or at home studying. He barely had time to sleep nowadays. Between training, studying, and running ridiculous errands for his former Sensei Naruto had next to no human contact and it was starting to weigh on him. Shaking his head vigorously he attempted to snap himself out of it. "This is no time to be sulking," he thought. After grabbing about ten cups of instant ramen he made his way to the counter. There was only one other person in the store and they happened to be cashing out ahead of him.

"Two packs of Hidden Leaf Spirit's please, oh and one bottle of Ginger Sake!"

The man at the register studied his customer for a second before asking for her identification, and nervously she showed the man some of her face and handing her card to him. The cashier's eyes widened with shock. Naruto happened to catch his strange mannerisms and peeked at the person in front of him. The woman was wearing a long navy fleece cloak with a heavy hood resting below her eyes. Her attire made him feel slightly alarmed. He thought she must have been a foreigner of some sort. Crossing his arms he noticeably cleared his throat. The woman jumped as she heard a deep grunt come from the man behind her, she dared not look to see who it was.

"I-I'm picking these up for my Sensei," she said quickly to the cashier with a wide smile "I don't smoke."

Naruto swayed and put a finger to his lips, that voice sounded vaguely familiar but he wasn't sure why that was. The man at the register then bagged her items and handled them to her, she snatched them away and fled the store in a panicked manner. Just as she flew by, Naruto caught a glimpse of light pink from under the suspicious person's hood. "Pink hair...?" he thought "That's sort of an odd color." Naruto cashed out and as he was about to leave the store something finally clicked. "Sakura!" he shouted trying to catch up to the cloaked kunoichi. She heard someone calling her name and disappeared in a puff of smoke. "What the hell?" she cursed to herself. The last thing she wanted was for someone to see her buying sake and cigarettes it was a nasty habit she had picked up over the last year or so. Fumbling with the keys to her room she felt like someone was watching her, turning around to see if anyone was there then she let out a sigh of relief.

"Just my imagination" she said as she placed a hand on her fast beating heart and drew a cigarette from her newly bought to have a smoke before going inside she leaned against her door frame. Naruto had managed to follow her, after all, his training wasn't just for show. He quickly hid realizing she might have caught him. He decided not come out and greet her. _Those things weren't for Baachan?!_ he clenched his teeth and stared intensely at her face, he was having a hard time believing this person was actually her. Her eyes had dark moons underneath them and even her hair had looked messy. For the most part age did make her care less about her looks and more about her nindo, but now it looked like she wasn't taking care of herself at all. Her pale lips made Os of smoke in the cool air. Despite her rather shaggy appearance, he still found himself captivated by her. It was always hard for him to understand just why he had liked her so much. With each drag she took her body and face appeared more relaxed. A sudden tinge of guilt hit him _Sakura, what happened... what did I-_ before he could finish his thought he heard a loud bang as her door was slammed shut. The Yellow haired ninja broke a sweat remembering her monster strength. He decided to leave his hiding spot. _Is it wrong of me to peak in and see how she's doing? No, no its not right? I'm just checking to make sure she's okay..._ He told himself this as he walked over to her living room window. Inside Sakura threw her bag on the couch, shed her cloak and let her hair fall softly to her sides. Yawning she took the bottle of sake out of her bag and removed the lid with a pop! Sinking herself onto the couch she shook off her boots and took a long hard chug from her bottle. From the window Naruto watched these series of events unfold. He could not peel his eyes away from her. After taking a large chug she continued to drink from the bottle at an alarmingly fast pace. The sake dripped from her mouth and fled down her chin. It was such an unsettling sight that Naruto felt his cheeks begin to burn. "How the hell is Sakura-chan able to do that..." he silently said to himself. After drinking a good portion of her bottle she set it aside to grab her pack of smokes, lazily she brought one cigarette to her lips and let it hang there. She stared at her cigarette for some time before deciding to light it. She leaned her head to the back of her couch cushion and exhaled a cloud of smoke. Naruto could now feel his blood boiling, he clenched his fist into a hard ball bit down on his lip with enough force to draw blood. He couldn't take seeing her like this any longer. Just as he was about to barge through her front door he noticed ashes falling onto her chest, her cigarette had almost gone out and she was fast asleep. A pang of guilt hit him and his eyes started to water. _What kind of friend am I? Do I even deserve to call myself one?_ Naruto then thought of the dreaded day she had been broken. The day after Sasuke had first left the village. The poor girl was shaking violently and could hardly stand. She pleaded with all she had for him to bring their former teammate home and of course he was going to! How could he say no? After all Sasuke-teme had been like a brother to him. The irony was, although they had both brought Sasuke home, he didn't stay. He never stayed. Naruto may have promised Sakura that he would bring Sasuke back home, but he had promised to himself to always keep her safe. He kept his eyes on her as a few tears traveled down his face. He felt disgusted with himself. "I was so busy trying to fulfill my dream.. and she was so busy swooning over Sasuke, I- I thought she didn't need me anymore.." the jinchuuriki couldn't get a hold on his emotions as they swayed between anger and guilt.

 **It's not like she tried to see you either**. Kyuubi suddenly chimed in.

 _Why would she? I had come up with every excuse I could not to see her!_

Naruto rubbed his eyes with the sleeves of his jacket.

 _Maybe she was just having a rough night, I'll stop in tomorrow I'm sure she was just having a tough day at work, or maybe she just wanted to have a good time, or she was having trouble sle-_

 **Quit making excuses," Kyuubi barked "Listen to yourself kid.**

 _Sakura-chan isn't like that!_

Too furious to argue any longer Naruto took one last glace at his old teammate and left.

Sakura awoke in the morning with a pounding headache from hell.

"Ohhh...Son of a bitch that hurts!" She wined as she massaged her temples. After about ten minutes she got up and walked over to the mirror in her bathroom, tripping over her cloak as she went. Looking in the mirror was something she had tried to avoid these days, after all who cared what the wolf crying Uchiha finance really looked like. Her hair was tangled in knots and her shirt was stained with ashes. Lowering her head with a heavy sigh she threw off her shirt and started scrubbing it with soap. _Thank Kami today is my day off_ she thought to herself crinkling her nose at the overpowering smell of alcohol. As much as she'd like NOT to admit, these endevours had became a nightly thing, usually she wouldn't drink as much considering her early shifts at the hospital, but it was her day off and the tailor's wife had really gotten to her. "Jealous old cow," she grumbled.

Naruto woke up early that morning and rushed to the Hokage's office to tell him that he would be taking the day off from his studies.

"Eh?" was a Kakashi could manage. He had always been able to read his students like a book, but this request seemed puzzling to him.

"I promise I'll work extra hard tomorrow Sens-" before he could finish the silver haired man shrugged his shoulders and waved him off.

"It's about time you decided to take a break, ciao."

The confused ninja was about to protest, but his former sensei was already gone.

Sakura spent too much time looking in the mirror that morning and had impulsively decided to cut her hair. It wasn't like she had even meant to let it grow so long in the first place, but the memory of Ino saying that Sasuke-kun liked girls with long hair was ringing in her ears. She knew that was a long time ago and she really thought she had grown out of that childish stage, but her reflection told a different story. Despite not always worrying about how nice she had looked anymore, that idea had really taken a turn for the worst. She looked like a hot mess. Locks of pink surrounded her, clinging to her skin. She hadn't bothered to put on a different shirt and was too busy cutting away to notice a knock on her door.

As soon as Kakashi was gone Naruto started running to Sakura's house. The whole time he was praying she would actually be home, and that he wouldn't have to come back another time.

 **Hey kid, you might want to calm down** Kyuubi insisted.

 _I can't help it, I don't even know what I'm supposed to say to her!_

 **You'll figure it out, no point in getting me all worked up too.**

Naruto apologized a few times as he approached Sakura's door, his heart was pounding. He tried knocking a couple of times, but there was no response.

 _Do you think I should just go in Kyuubi? It looks like her lights are on._

The demon just grunted in response. Naruto decided he might as well just walk in, I mean it wasn't that weird was it? As he opend the door his eyes met with a certain pinkette. She had a kunai in one hand and was holding her hair in the other. However, the first thing he had noticed was that she wasn't wearing a shirt. Her back was still turned to him, but her head was peering over her shoulder. They both stood there for what felt like an eternity. As reality settled in, Naruto's face started heating up and was the color of Sakura's laced bra; red.

 ** _I think we're having a heart attack!_** Kyuubi and Naruto thought in unison.

The girl's face started twisting into a scowl at the sight of his flushed cheeks. Without a second thought Naruto slammed the door shut and sunk down to his knees.

 _W-wh- what was that...did you see that Kyuubi? Is this real life?_ Just to be sure Naruto made the release seal.

" **That's not genjutsu you idiot, isn't that the girl you used to fantasize about, hm?**

"Shut up!" he pleaded inside his head.

In the middle of cutting her hair, Sakura heard a creek and felt a gust of wind follow. There stood her former best friend, her former crutch, her former teammate; Uzumaki Naruto. Unable to speak she stared into the ninja's eyes, they were as piercingly blue as ever. It felt like she was stuck in some sort of trance. His face became red as his eyes traveled down to her back. A cold chill rushed down her spine. She felt herself shiver, then heat up to an unearthly kind of rage, her face twitched and her hair started sticking out like a feral cat's tail. She was going to murder him. Before she could speak he slammed the door, this only added her her rage.

"NA-RU-TO YOU IDIOT I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" with a roar she sent the kunai in her hand flying to strike the door right where his head would have been.

Naruto felt a thud on the other side of the door above him, but decided it would be best not to move. Then the door flew open unexpectedly and he fell backward knocking into something that then toppled over him.

"Ow ow ow ow!" He said as he rubbed the back of his neck furiously. Looking up down before him his met eyes with his former crush again, she was laying on her back with her head tilted up facing towards him. Sakura was dazed from her fall and felt instantly felt nauseous and for some reason when their eyes met she couldn't form her thoughts into words.

"Sakura-chan p-p-please put a shirt on!" the insisted looking down at his lap.

"YOU'RE THE ONE THAT JUST BARGED IN YO-" with that Sakura sprung up quickly and tried to cover her mouth but she couldn't stop herself from vomiting.

"Sakura-chan are you-"

"BLEEUGHH"

"Oh kami, o-okay i'm going to go get you a towel... and a shirt" He bowed quickly as he ran into her house.

"Second drawer!" She shouted in return before continuing to throw up.

Naruto didn't have time to take in his surroundings and quickly grabbed a towel from the kitchen and the first shirt he saw in her room. While running back to her he almost tripped on a cloak that lied on her living room floor from the previous night.

"Here Sakura-chan!" he shoved the shirt in her face, looking away from her in embarrassment. Unfortunately it still had been a busy day and some villagers had been walking past her house. They didn't move their eyes from Sakura and he swore he heard one of them say something about her engagement. When he looked away Sakura finally had a shirt on, a navy tee with the Uchiha symbol on the back, Naruto slapped his cheeks at the sight. _That's right," he thought "she's engaged to Sasuke._ It was almost as he forgot about the whole ordeal or that that was the reason he had stopped talking to her in the first place. Naruto couldn't help himself from sulking, it still hurt him as much as it had the day he told her. Sakura wiped her mouth before speaking,

"I can't wait to hear the gossip they'll spread," she spat "I swear that's all anyone in this village does."

Satisfied with her remark, she stood up and held out a hand. "Come on, I guess I'll let you inside Baka."

She spoke so casually that it made Naruto uncomfortable. He realized he had been staring again and quickly took her hand to follow her inside. He noticed her nails were short trimmed short in the shade pink chocolate. Sakura had always worn a vibrant blue-green color on her nails it was odd to see her with a different color, this made him smile and subconsciously squeeze her hand tightly. She had looked like a mess of herself, but she still took the time to paint her nails. "That's something Sakura-chan would do" he thought. Sakura felt a Naruto's hand tighten beneath hers,

"Nani!?" she slapped his hand away as fast as she could. He didn't cower at her actions, he just examined the red mark on his hand. _What the hell?_ she thought _He has no right to touch me!_ without removing his eyes from his hand he managed to follow her inside.

"Sit here" she pointed to an open chair. Medical books, empty bottles, clothes, and various other things were cast around her living room.

"Is it your day off?" she said in a strict tone.

All he could manage was a nod in her direction. She rummaged through her cabinets and brought out two glasses, setting the glasses on the countertop she poured sake into them. "Too ashamed to look at me, eh?" she was starting to loose her temper. Shoving a glass in his face she spoke again,

"Why did you come here Naruto?"

He took the glass from her and looked up at her expression, all he saw was rage. She was really getting irritated.

"Can't you talk? If you can't then drink, maybe it'll knock some sense into your thick skull!"

She pulled up a chair next to him and took a drink from her glass. She decided she was done talking, eventually he would spit it out.

"Baka..." she mumbled into her glass.

Naruto peered into the drink in his hands, he had rarely drank before- only on occasions with the Pervy Sage or Baachan. He brought the glass to his lips and sipped lightly leaving a sour and unsettling taste in his mouth. _She's going to kill you kid,_ **might as well drink up while you're still alive**

 _The thing is Kyuubi... I really don't know what to say and I'm starting to wonder if it was a bad idea to come here._

 **You're here now anyway, you brought us into this mess, don't ask me**

He managed a few chugs before setting his glass down,

"I saw you at the store last night.. in the blue cloak, that was you right?"

She snorted and set her glass down, "What of it?"

"When I saw it was you I started following you and-"

"Ah, that's what I sensed, a stalking idiot," she remarked before he could finish.

A noticeable frown spread across his face, "Why did you lie to the cashier? You said those things were for Baachan."

Grabbing her pack from the end of the counter she lit a cigarette with a satisfied look.

"Why do you carrreee?" she slurred emphazing the last part.

"Stop! What the hell is wrong with you Sakura-chan?!" snatching the cigarette from her lips he crushed it in his hands, the cherry singed his callus fingers. He couldn't believe how awful she was being. The pink haired kunoichi simply rolled her eyes and went to grab another from her pack.

"Hey, are you even listening to me!?" he stood up from his seat ripping the cigarette from her mouth.

"You're not intimidating" she growled standing to match him. She poked a finger at him.

"Don't act like you can walk on in here like you have a damn place to say anything. It has been two years since we've talked, TWO!"

she shouted pushing him hard enough in the chest for him to loose his balance. With each word she drew closer to him.

"I aught to throw your ass into next week!"

Naruto was fumbling over objects as he tried to back away from her, eventually she drove him into a wall.

"Calm down Sakura-chan...i-it's okay just calm down," he pleaded, "Let's talk through this."

 **Oh she's serious kid, need me to help ya out?**

Naruto shook his head unable to think much on the matter. Sakura snatched him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him down to meet her eyes.

"Don't you ever, ever call me Sakura-chan again" with that she released her hold, driving her fist into the wall by his head. He then watched as she walked back over to the counter and took a seat. _She...she was mad that I called her Sakura-chan?_ " for some reason that really had an effect on him, one he didn't want to have. **You've always called her that, hm? Whatever kid just skip the honorifics, it's not like its that big of a deal**

He had always called her that, she had always worn green nail polish, she had always cared about her looks and had always put up with him. He couldn't take it anymore.

"Y-you don't even paint your nails green anymore!" saying so while throwing his arms in the air he stormed out of the house without making any further contact.

"I don't what...?" Awestruck the girl looked down at her hands. She then recalled the first time he had brought up the topic of her nail color; hey were about 12 and it was during a break from one of Iruka sensei's lessons. He had always made it a point to try to sit next to her in class, and on that day she could feel his eyes on her.

"Is there something on my face? Maybe you should take a picture it'll last longer!" a young Sakura said sticking her tongue out at him in disgust.

"It's not that Sakura-chan... It's just your nails," he said sheepishly reaching for her hand "they bring out the color in your eyes, I like really them."

Sakura remembered being shocked by such a forward motion, she had never held hands with a boy before then. Sasuke hadn't been in that day and no one had been siting on the other side of her. **What does he think he's doing?! Everyone will see us!** her inner self screamed. She told herself she wasn't flustered by who was holding her hand, but by the fact that someone actually was. She quickly pulled their hands under the table so no one would see them. It was also extremely fortunate that they were sitting on the highest level of seats in the room, so no one was behind them to see what was going on. She knew Naruto probably wasn't expecting that kind of reaction, but she felt sort of sorry for him and she wasn't exactly popular with the boys like Ino. She was enjoying the attention. _As long as no one sees us_ she told her inner _I don't really see a problem_. His eyes were nearly popping out of his head. The poor boy's hand was sweaty and she could feel his nerves having an effect on her own. She waved over his face to get his attention and shushed him. **That's kind of cute, neh? He looks like hes in heaven!** her inner was feeding into thoughts she didn't want to have. Blushing was unavoidable, both their faces were red. Although he had no problem staring at her, no matter how hard she tried she couldn't look at him. Having always been more reserved she felt as if she was doing something shameful by holding hands with a boy. _How embarrassing!_ she wined to herself, _should I just pull my hand away?_ just as she was thinking this Iruka Sensei called out to the two of them.

"Sakura, Naruto, are you even listening to me?" their sensei had his hands on his hips in disapproval. The whole class turned to look at them.

Sakura's nerves got the best of her and she threw her hands up in defense, "Yes Sensei, we're sorry!"

Naruto was still staring at her when she shoved him in the ribs, "Ah he- I mean sorry Sensei."

She couldn't believe how embarrassed she was, _I'm so glad Sasuke-kun isn't here!_ she told herself, _I think I wouldn't have died!_

 ** _Imagine what Sasuke-kun would think if he saw us holding hands with that ...thing._**

 _That might be going to far..._

"If it happens again you'll both be staying after class, understood?" both students nodded in understanding.

Their classmates made a long drawn out _Oooohh_ and Iruka warned them that they would all stay after class if they didn't get straight to work. As the whole class mumbled "Yes Sensei" in unison Naruto tried to grab for Sakura's hand, but she had moved it to cross her arms and turned her head away from him.

" Don't you dare ever tell anyone" was all she said.

After that day she always wore green nail polish secretly hoping Sasuke would think it complimented her eyes, too. After coming to from her flashback, she got up and ran out the door trying to catch up to him.

"Naruto! Naruto wait!" she was painting hunched over trying to catch her breath.

He slowed his steps until he was to a complete stop, but he didn't respond to her.

"Hey, look I didn't mean to be so awful, I'm sorry! It's just-" she paused for a moment causing him to turn around and face her.

"I was feeling resentful because you kind of just stopped talking to me out of no where when we returned from the war and with everything that's been going on I guess it just got the best of me back there. I didn't mean to be a total bitch to you."

"I deserved it though, right?" he said coldly avoiding eye contact, "After all you're not wrong, I did stop talking to you, started doing everything to avoid you and never tried to see how you were doing. I probably deserve worse."

Her eyes widened at his words, she tried to speak but he cut her off by taking a hold of her wrist.

She felt a jolt through her heart, "Why would you-"

"Just punch me."

She couldn't pull away, he had placed her hand on the center of his chest. Buh-bump buh-bump buh-bump, she could feel his heart racing.

"Punch me," he repeated "punch me where it hurts."

Her eyes focused on the ground before them "I don't want to punch you Naruto" she said slowly, letting her eyes meet his for a brief second. The close contact was making her so uncomfortable she was blushing, but she decided to tell herself that that was from the booze.

"Why not? Whenever I would do something stupid you would scold me, or punch me.. Of all the things I've done this has got to be the worst."

His hand was hot against her wrist, callused and larger than she had remembered. She could feel his chest rumbling every time he spoke. With her overwhelming emotions and heighten nerves she felt like she was floating away.

"Stop" she choked out, tears were streaming down her face, unable to take anymore, "Just shut the hell up!"

She tore her hand from his grasp and began massaging the place he had made contact.

"Listen you, you're going to come with me to my house, help me fix my hair, and then we'll have a proper talk about this, okay?"

 _She- she wants me to follow her?_

 **This is it kid, might as well go along with her it doesn't look like she'll take no for an answer.**

He nodded as sweat drops formed on his forehead and without another word he followed. Watching the back of her figure as they made their way back into her house made him nervous. He felt instantly guilty about what he had said.

" _I never know how to say things to her, I get too nervous and sometimes I worry too much about saying the wrong thing. It's just she's so emotional and I don't mean to hurt her, hell I try to do everything I can to avoid hurting her.. but it always ends up happening._

 **Hey, hey lighten up will ya? The way you feel affects the both of us, remember?**

 _I don't think she's mad, but I think I still her hurt... maybe I should just leave her alone, all I seem to do is add to her pain._

She stopped suddenly and he nearly bumped into her.

"Don't you dare think about running off on me, at least not until you help me fix this mess."

She was talking about her hair, which had been chopped short in sections and grown much longer in others. When they got inside she handed him the kunai that was stuck in the door from earlier.

"Sit" she demanded.

* * *

Authors Notes:

Well that's chapter one for you! I couldn't really think of a great way to end it since I'm already working on the next chapter. Not sure if I like the way I formatted this, I might change later. Please leave me some feedback I would greatly appreciate it. If at least one person reads this then that'll be enough motivation for me to keep writing! Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the next chapter.


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